The Long Island Rail Road's (LIRR) proposal to construct a 10.5 mile third track on the Main Line from Bellerose to Hicksville, which would run through the Village of Floral Park, has reared its head in the campaigns of Unity and Citizens Party candidates in Floral Park.

Unity Party candidates Ralph Ratto (trustee), Hank Brodersen (mayor) and Bob Serpico (trustee) are concerned that current trustee and Citizens Party candidate Gerard Bambrick was on the Nassau County Planning Commission that made the policy recommendation (IV.21) that recommended the county support the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA's) long range plans to construct a third operational track on the Main Line.

The Nassau County Comprehensive Plan, adopted in December 1998 by the nine-member Nassau County Planning Commission, specifically states in IV.21: "policy recommendation: encourage that priority be given to funding a third operational track on the LIRR Main Line."

Further, IV.21 continues: "mplementation strategies: (1) the county should support the MTA's long range plans to construct a third operational track on the LIRR Main Line, which would improve mobility and increase flexibility for intra-island and reverse commute travel, as well as facilitate bringing LIRR service into Grand Central Station and (2) Nassau and Suffolk Counties should actively support efforts through the MTA capital needs program and the NYMTC's [New York Metropolitan Transportation Council] transportation improvement program to develop a third operational track on the LIRR Main Line."

Trustee Bambrick said the Unity Party's three candidates, "although they claim to support the village board's efforts to oppose the project, have sought to create the appearance of division on the village board by recklessly, and falsely, implying that I support the MTA's proposal. To support their allegation, they point to three sentences in the Nassau County Comprehensive Plan."

Trustee Bambrick further noted that the plan is over 250 pages long and contains 22 goals, 107 policy recommendations and 332 implementation strategies relevant to the subject matters of land use, environmental resources, transportation, housing, the economy and more. "It is absurd to suggest that each of the nine members of the Planning Commission who voted to approve the Master Plan as an entire document agreed with each proposal espoused in the Master Plan," Trustee Bambrick added.

The proposal has gotten many local community groups up in arms and a grassroots effort is currently under way in the village to prevent the project from reaching fruition. Floral Park Deputy Mayor Phil Guarnieri, Citizens Party candidate for mayor and chair of the village's Long Island Rail Road Third Track Task Force Committee - created to further probe the issue, is urging local organizations to conduct a vote of their membership in opposition.

Local organizations should send copies of their resolutions, or letters on their organization's letterhead indicating their opposition to the expansion, to Deputy Mayor Guarnieri at Village Hall (1 Floral Boulevard, P.O. Box 27). The letters and/or resolutions will be forwarded to "important decision makers to help generate opposition."

In Floral Park, the new line would impact residents, the business community, Floral Park's Recreation Center and the Floral Park Public Library. Both Unity and Citizens Party candidates believe the addition of a third track will not benefit the village in any way.

Despite the vast resistance, a group of environmental, business, planning, transit and community advocate groups - dubbed the Coalition for the LIRR Third Track - believe Long Island needs a more robust transit system. The coalition's main objective is to push along the LIRR's $300 million Main Line Corridor Improvement Project, which also seeks to improve roadway crossings and make other corridor enhancements. Coalition members believe the third track is a key issue and a key solution to Long Island's transportation issues.

Although the plan has been in the planning stages for many years and will take additional years to complete, Long Island Rail Road Third Track Task Force Committee members continue to meet with LIRR representatives. For more information, residents and organizations may contact Deputy Mayor Guarnieri at 326-6300.